Matthias Hues

Birth name:

Date of Birth:

14 February 1959 Waltrop, Germany

Height:

6' 5" (1.96 m)

Matthias Hues was born on Valentine's Day in Waltrop, Germany, to Dr. Josef Hues and Maria Hues (nee Humperdinck). Matthias comes from a long line of performers and artists, the most famous being Engelbert Humperdinck, composer of the opera Hansel and Gretel. From an early age Matthias was systematically groomed for the arts but was also very much involved in sports; by the time he was 19 he was on the team that won the German pentathlon championship in Hannover and he became Germany's hopeful in track and field. He also took up martial arts due to his ability to move extremely fast for his 6'5" height and 250-pound weight.After graduating from school Matthias moved to Paris to fulfill his dream of living like his childhood hero Felix Krull, a controversial but fictitious character based on a famous novel and later movie. Just like the fictional Felix, Matthias dove into the different worlds of Paris' vibrant society life and worked in the most upscale hotels of the city, where many of the era's most wealthy and famous people lived, including film stars and society types. He soon quit his job at the hotels and joined one of the most prestigious health clubs in Paris, which had just been bombarded with the new Jane Fonda aerobic exercise program from the US. Matthias recognized an opportunity when he saw one and opened two health clubs on his own, flying in real aerobic teachers from the US. It was during that time when… Show more »

Matthias Hues was born on Valentine's Day in Waltrop, Germany, to Dr. Josef Hues and Maria Hues (nee Humperdinck). Matthias comes from a long line of performers and artists, the most famous being Engelbert Humperdinck, composer of the opera Hansel and Gretel. From an early age Matthias was systematically groomed for the arts but was also very much involved in sports; by the time he was 19 he was on the team that won the German pentathlon championship in Hannover and he became Germany's hopeful in track and field. He also took up martial arts due to his ability to move extremely fast for his 6'5" height and 250-pound weight.After graduating from school Matthias moved to Paris to fulfill his dream of living like his childhood hero Felix Krull, a controversial but fictitious character based on a famous novel and later movie. Just like the fictional Felix, Matthias dove into the different worlds of Paris' vibrant society life and worked in the most upscale hotels of the city, where many of the era's most wealthy and famous people lived, including film stars and society types. He soon quit his job at the hotels and joined one of the most prestigious health clubs in Paris, which had just been bombarded with the new Jane Fonda aerobic exercise program from the US. Matthias recognized an opportunity when he saw one and opened two health clubs on his own, flying in real aerobic teachers from the US. It was during that time when he became obsessed with America and the American way of life, so he sold the clubs and moved to Hawaii.Due to his spectacular physique and bigger-than-life appearance and personality, it wasn't long before some people on the beach where he was hanging out suggested that he should try to enter the entertainment industry, and so he boarded a plane to Los Angeles. He joined Gold's Gym in Venice, California, the mecca of bodybuilding and entertainment personalities.Derek Barton, a former Hollywood stuntman and now one of Gold's managing directors, received a frantic call one day from a producer who had just lost Jean-Claude Van Damme for his movie and needed someone to replace him immediately. Derek didn't hesitate to send Matthias to test for the role, and Matthias managed to convince the producers to give him the part, despite having no acting experience whatsoever. The movie, No Retreat, No Surrender 2: Raging Thunder (1987), was a moderate success, and opened the door for Matthias to make more films. He established himself quickly as a powerhouse in the action genre and began appearing in more films, his most successful to date being Dark Angel (1990). Over the years he recognized that his outstanding physique and size would not always be a plus in his acting career, so if needed he would reshape his look, dropping up to 40 pounds at times for various roles, and he began studying with some of the industry's best acting and speech coaches.Matthias played a variety of roles in his films, from a gladiator turned private investigator in Age of Treason (1993) (TV) to an aging hit-man in Finding Interest (1994) to a bumbling idiot trying to kidnap a rich kid in Alone in the Woods (1996) to a dancing lion tamer in Big Top Pee-wee (1988). He also played a Klingon general in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991).Matthias is one of the few foreign actors who managed to lose his accent to the extent that many people in his own country don't even know that he is from Germany.« Hide